A Mind at Play: How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age

Authors Jimmy Soni and Rob Goodman

A MIND AT PLAY: How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age by Jimmy Soni and Rob Goodman (Simon & Schuster, July 18, 2017) is the full story of the life and times of Claude Shannon (1916-2001)—the architect of the Information Age, whose insights stand behind every computer built, email sent, video streamed, and webpage loaded. Claude Shannon was a groundbreaking polymath, a brilliant tinkerer, and a digital pioneer. He constructed a fleet of customized unicycles and a flame-throwing trumpet, outfoxed Vegas casinos, and built juggling robots. He also wrote the seminal text of the digital revolution, which has been called “the Magna Carta of the Information Age.” His discoveries would lead contemporaries to compare him to Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton. His work anticipated by decades the world we’d be living in today—and gave mathematicians and engineers the tools to bring that world to pass. With access to Shannon’s family and friends, as well as a wealth of published and unpublished documents, Soni and Goodman reveal Claude Shannon’s full story for the first time, and bring this singular innovator and creative genius to life.

The talk will be followed by a book signing in Rackham Assembly Hall, 4th Floor.

Jimmy Soni is an author and editor. He has worked as an editor atThe New York ObserverandThe Washington Examiner. He has worked as a speechwriter, and his writing and commentary have appeared inSlate,The Atlantic, and CNN. He is a graduate of Duke University and was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30. With Rob Goodman, he is the coauthor ofRome’s Last Citizen: The Life and Legacy of Cato, Mortal Enemy of CaesarandA Mind at Play: How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age.

Rob Goodman is a doctoral candidate at Columbia University and a former congressional speechwriter. He has written forSlate,The Atlantic,Politico Magazine, andThe Chronicle of Higher Education. His scholarly work has appeared inHistory of Political Thought, theKennedy Institute of Ethics Journal, andThe Journal of Medicine and Philosophy. With Jimmy Soni, he is the coauthor ofRome’s Last Citizen: The Life and Legacy of Cato, Mortal Enemy of CaesarandA Mind at Play: How Claude Shannon Invented the Information Age.